Gardening 101 - Tips to HELP your garden!

If you're into gardening, and even if you're not, there is one technique that you might want to get the skinny on and that's mulching. True that winter is approaching, but it's never to late to learn.

But before you say you don't have a green thumb, keep this in mind: mulching is an easy technique and one that might help your garden grow a lot better -- better than you could ever imagine.

"It's something that everyone should do," said Jack Bennett, owner of The Bird of Paradise Landscaping in Lake Forest, Calif. "It's easy and it can be inexpensive at the same time."
Now that the word hasn't frightened you too much, and you've decided to pull on the old gardening gloves here's a few pointers to help. First of all, "mulch" refers to a material placed on the soil's surface, which can be anything from old leaves to egg shells, Bennett said.

How Mulches Help

Also a simple layer of mulch may help prevent the germination of many weed seeds, reducing the need for cultivation or the use of herbicides. Mulches also help moderate the soil temperature and retain moisture during dry weather, reducing the need for watering, Bennett mentioned. Mulches can also protect the soil from the impact of raindrops that can cause crusting, which can prevent the germination of seedlings.

Most mulch products provide these benefits, but organic mulches -- such as compost or bark -- can be especially beneficial because earthworms and other soil life gradually break them down, mixing them into the soil to nourish plants.

"Often, people will mix a combination of old leaves, trees or shrub remnants with egg shells, banana peels, their trash … just about anything to create mulch," Bennett said. "Everything works within reason."

True, while there are many types of mulch, organic mulches such as wood chips, grass clippings, or other locally available materials help improve the soil by adding organic matter as they decompose. They also may encourage the growth of beneficial soil organisms that can help improve soil structure and the availability of nutrients for plants, Bennett explained.

Mulches can be used to enhance the look of your garden, too. Many bark mulches provide a uniformly rich brown color that contrasts with the plants. The mulch also helps keep plants clean by reducing the splash of soil onto leaves during rainstorms, and helps infiltration of the rainfall into the garden.

Choosing a Mulch Material

If you are most interested in weed control in a vegetable garden, a layer of newspaper covered with grass clippings or just grass clippings will work well. However, if you are finishing off a beautiful perennial garden in the front of your house, you probably will want to use something more attractive such as bark mulch, according to the nursery department at your local Do-It-Yourself store.

If you are mulching around shrubs that will remain in place for years, you may want to use inorganic mulches such as brick chips, marble chips, or stone. While these will not provide organic matter to the soil, they will be permanent. Note that they are difficult to remove if you change your mind or want to add bulbs or perennials.

Mulching does not need to be expensive. Some communities offer chipped wood or compost to residents, which they might hand-out free during certain times of the year.

Leaves, newspaper, and grass clippings are also inexpensive mulches. To be effective, most organic mulches need to be between 2 and 4 inches thick, Bennett said.

Regardless of which type of mulch you choose, your garden should be a lot healthier and easier to maintain know that you know the ins and outs of mulching.

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